Chelsea suffered a potentially serious setback on Monday in their attempt to
secure a top-four Premier League finish when Petr Cech withdrew from the
Czech Republic squad with a broken little finger.

Although Cech suffered the injury during Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat against Newcastle on Saturday, the full extent of the damage was not immediately clear and he reported for international duty on Monday.

Cech will now return to Chelsea on Tuesday when he will be further assessed by medics at the club’s Cobham training base. With Thibaut Courtois on loan for the season at Atlético Madrid, manager Rafael Benítez will face a difficult choice between Ross Turnbull and Henrique Hilario if Cech is absent for a significant time.

Cech was able to complete the full 90 minutes against Newcastle despite his injury but, at the very least, he is now a serious doubt for Saturday’s match against Wigan Athletic.

Turnbull would be the expected replacement but he looked nervous and lacked authority when Cech recently missed successive 2-2 draws against League One Brentford and then Reading . The 28-year-old also played in the 2-0 home defeat against Swansea City in the Capital One Cup semi-final last month. Hilario is now 37 and has not played since Aug 27 2011.

Saturday’s match against Wigan has taken on huge significance for Benitez’s future, with Chelsea having won just three out of their last 10 matches.

Cech had been due to travel to Turkey with the Czech Republic ahead ofWednesday night’s friendly. Dnipropetrovsk’s Jan Lastuvka will start against Turkey with Hamburg’s goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny also called up to the squad yesterday.

Meanwhile Loïc Rémy, the Queens Parks Rangers striker, is hoping to return before the end of the month despite fears that he would be out for eight weeks with the groin injury he sustained during training on Friday morning.

In what would be a major boost to QPR’s survival hopes, there is a belief that the France international could still play a part in the pivotal relegation battles against Southampton and Aston Villa on March 2 and 16.

QPR have offered no further information on Rémy’s injury since some mixed messages on Saturday when manager Harry Redknapp said that he had torn his groin and assistant manager Joe Jordan described the injury as a “slight strain”.

It is understood that Rémy was walking unaided and without significant discomfort on Monday. Further scans are expected this week.

Rémy was a club-record signing when he arrived at QPR for £8 million last month, with Redknapp hoping that he would score the goals to inspire an unlikely escape from relegation. For the immediate future, Redknapp must decide between Bobby Zamora, Jamie Mackie and Jay Bothroyd in the centre-forward positions, with Adel Taarabt another option to play in a more central attacking position.

Redknapp had hoped to partner Remy with Zamora but may again ask Mackie or Taarabt to play through the middle on Saturday against Swansea City.

Zamora was out for two months earlier this season following hip surgery and has not scored since September but did come on as a substitute during Saturday’s goalless draw against Norwich City. A further complication for Redknapp, however, is that Zamora’s hip is still making it difficult for him to play a full 90 minutes.

Remy’s injury occurred during the last minute of training on Friday as he kicked a ball. “I have no idea at the moment how long he will be out,” said Redknapp.